| January 24, 2011
St. Francis de Sales Dear Family of Mary! "Dear children! Today I invite you to go into nature because there you will meet God the Creator. Today I invite you, little children, to thank God for all that He gives you. In thanking Him you will discover the Most High and all the goods that surround you. Little children, God is great and His love for every creature is great. Therefore, pray to be able to understand the love and goodness of God. In the goodness and the love of God the Creator, I also am with you as a gift. Thank you for having responded to my call." (October 25, 1995) As I ponder this message, I am gazing out my window on a frozen world covered in two feet of snow. It's cold today! Going out into nature is not that inviting. Though, I can imagine how quiet it would be out there. The snow seems to swallow up the noise and reduce nature to silence. Everything is resting underneath this cold blanket. Time to be fallow, to wait. This may be the gift of winter. It makes us wait. Our Lady is right. When we thank God for all that He gives us, we discover Him! When we give thanks to Him for whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, we begin to detect His hand in it, to see His plan unfolding. It becomes evident to us, as we open our hearts to it, and trust Him in it. An ungrateful heart, on the other hand, is set on its own plans and measures everything according to its own desires. Such a heart will certainly be crossed because it will see everything in terms of its own selfish program, missing God's better plan. Things are not going to go our way. We are too little to control things. Life will constantly be a vexation if we think we can. Our Lady says, "God is great and His love for every creature is great. Therefore, pray to be able to understand the love and goodness of God." If we believe her, and begin to pray with thanksgiving, the love and goodness of God will come into focus for us. We will see the events and challenges in our lives in terms of God's ever loving plans, and we will be able to follow Him in those plans with peace. I forget to do this all the time. When the car won't start or I am late for an appointment, I can get really out of sorts. But when I respond to such situations with a prayer of gratitude, somehow they work out for the best. Denis shares often that his inability to do calculus turned into a great blessing. As a freshman at Notre Dame, he found out that he had to take calculus. He barely passed Algebra II in high school. From the very first day of class, he was completely lost. As a result, Denis prayed his heart out every day; he thanked God for his weakness and begged Him to help him. This daily regimen of prayer became a lifeline for Denis in college. He learned to rely on God in everything. Looking back, he sees his inability to do calculus as a great blessing. It drove him into the arms of Jesus, which changed his life for the best. (He also passed calculus, barely! What a miracle!)
Our Lady of Medjugorje - Painted by a young boy from a poor village near Medjugorje
"In the goodness and the love of God the Creator, I also am with you as a gift." Many people lament at the evil times we live in, and yes they are bad. But we could receive these times with gratitude, thanking God for them, because without them Our Lady would not be coming every day. That is something to think about! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for sending Our Lady everyday! We thank you for every circumstance in our lives, for every challenge and every joy! Help us to discover you. We need to know You and Your plan for our lives. Reveal it to us as we thank you for everything! In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
www.marytv.tv
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.